


Four Seasons

by Fettuccininoodles



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Beaches, Day At The Beach, Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, Dreamscapes, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Forests, Magical Realism, Mutual Pining, POV Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), POV Multiple, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Soft GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Third Wheel Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Visions in dreams, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29816790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fettuccininoodles/pseuds/Fettuccininoodles
Summary: Dream is having a very hard time admitting to and succumbing to the fact that he has feelings for George. He unknowingly gets assistance from something, or someone.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Familiar feelings, yet unfamiliar sights, mixed realities, nostalgic sounds and smells. An endless garden of vibrant flowers such as: peonies, alliums, hydrangeas, catmints, so many to name. There’s something so surreal about this place. It brings comfort, calm, and ease. A little circular stone-laden plaza sits neatly in the middle, four teak wood benches are seen, smooth and well crafted. A towering beautiful marble fountain as the centerpiece, clear crystal water flowing from the top and middle. The edge of the base wide enough to sit on. The intricate little details in the stone carved perfectly, each and every characteristic breathing the passion and care put into this piece. Four forests, each displaying a different season, lay just a little walk away. Straight ahead is the Spring forest, to the right is the Summer forest, then Fall, then Winter. From the center, four cobblestone paths lead straight to the forests, each stone seemingly hand-placed. Something about this place feels so familiar, not the heavenly sights so much as the nostalgia. 

Taking a couple careful steps toward the fountain, Clay observes his surroundings, taking in every detail. He sits on the fountain, dipping a hand into the water. It’s a nice temperature, not too cold, not too warm. Just right. He leaned over just a little, seeing his shimmering reflection in the water. His eyes are the first thing he notices, the fern green color glowing brightly. Awe-struck, he looked away, a little breeze brushing against his cheek. He felt an overwhelming urge to let his eyes follow the direction. He turns to the direction.

The Spring forest.

  
  


_Is that where I need to go?_ Clay wonders, debating whether to follow, or wait. _No, I need to think about this logically._ He decides to wait. _Why am I here in the first place?_ _How did I end up here? Why does it feel so.. familiar? Why is everything so perfect here?_ He feels troubled, he doesn’t understand. He brings his hands to his hair, running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair. He makes a frustrated noise then sighs. Nobody is here, so he doesn’t need to hold anything back. Why does he think that? Clay then remembers the stress that lays in wait for his waking. Although his life is pretty good, he still deals with the weight of stress, is this his mind's way of comforting him? 

No, this… this is too calm to be his dream. Yet it is. 

Clay decides to just enjoy the peace, acknowledging that he may not be able to come back here when he wakes up. His questions still trouble him, but he buries them deep. The soft sounds gently whisper in his ears. Sounds of birds chirping, bees buzzing, and the flowing water from the marble fountain. He walks over to a patch of alliums that rest beautifully in the soft soil. He admires such beauty. A very good trait for someone like him. Very good indeed. 

What a lovely young man. Perhaps he will figure out the reason why he is here. He is in love, but he does not realize it yet. We know he has the potential of seeing it here. He must admit his true feelings. Our goal. He must figure out the Four Seasons. 


	2. Trend

The very first thing Dream felt as he wakes up is a light object pressing down on his cheek, a paw. He hears Patches purring and giving little mews. Dream smiles, lifting a hand to caress Patches’ head, her leaning and pushing against his hand. “Alright, I’m up.” Dream mutters, his voice gravelly. Patches let out a small ‘mrrow’ before hopping off the bed, slipping through the slightly open door. Dream lifts the covers off of him before rising off his bed, stretching his back and arms, then hearing a pop as he leans back. He looks over at the window, squinting at the light. With the soft rays of sunshine seeping through the closed blinds and the warmth that comes with it, the atmosphere makes for the start of a good day. Hopefully it stays that way, Florida weather has been killing him. The hot summer and scorching evenings are taking quite a toll on him. Anytime he goes outside, he has to apply a thin layer of sunscreen. It’s torture. He grabs his phone, pocketing it into his sweatshorts, and straightening his black t-shirt. As soon as he could think coherently, he remembers the strange dream he’d had last night. That place was strangely comforting, but was laced with mystique. He’d never experienced anything like that before. He can’t shake the feeling that it was significantly important.

Ambling down the hall and into the kitchen, he turns the corner, yawning once more. Eggs or cereal? He debates, weighing the options he has. Does he want to cook, or does he want bland Cheerios? He looks at Patches, who is sitting comfortably on the floor next to him. “What do you think, Patches? Eggs or Cheerios?” He asks, giving her a little smile before softly chuckling to himself. She starts grooming herself, and he just laughs a little louder. “Okay Patches. Eggs it is.” He says, walking to his fridge and opening it. He scans the almost empty fridge and grabs the eggs off the second shelf. He sets them on the counter gently, before getting an idea. 

Grabbing his phone, he checks the time, 7:48, the time reads. He sees a couple text messages from his friends, a couple ‘good mornings’, and a couple ‘get up idiot’s. He unlocks it, opening Facetime, and tapping on George’s contact. He props his phone up against a little fruit bowl that’s in the middle of the island. A couple rings later, George picks up, and immediately Dream’s hit with an insult. “Morning stupid.” George says with a joking tone, with prompts Dream to make a fake offended face, followed by a hand on his chest. Both he and George burst into laughter, the atmosphere now much brighter, and less lonely. “Morning Gogy, how’d you sleep?” Dream asks, leaning against the counter, having to bend over to place his arms on the counter. Curse his towering height. Everytime he isn’t careful when walking into a room, he hits his head. “Pretty good actually, I don’t remember my dream though.” George says, then adds, “I say that like I ever remember my dreams.” He finishes, and Dream thinks of a quick joke. “Aww, you don’t remember me? That hurts, Gogy.” Dream says, unable to hide his smile, and George snorts. “You wouldn’t ever let me forget you.” He replies, returning the smile. “Damn straight.” Dream says, and points a finger gun at him, which elicits another snort from the brit. “That was so stupid, oh my god. You still point finger guns?” George’s face scrunches, and Dream can’t help but smile bigger. “Well yeah, I think it’s funny, you’re just mean. Making fun of my finger guns, hmph!” Dream says, standing straight up and crossing his arms, closing his eyes and looking away from the phone. He opens one to see if George is looking, he is. 

He has a fake unamused expression resting on his face. “Don’t be a baby, Dream. You’re just behind on trends.” George says, cracking a smile at him. Dream goes back to his original position, and raises an eyebrow, smiling. “‘You’re just behind on trends.’ Gogy, are you calling me a boomer?” He asks, which makes George laugh really hard. “Yes Dream, you’re a boomer.” He replies, still laughing. Dream laughs along with him. “I’m only 21! How can I be a boomer?” Dream says in between laughs. “Fair.” George says, the laughter dying down. “Why’d you call me?” He asks, and Dream makes a pouty face. “What, you don’t want me to call you? I’m hurt. Anyways, I was gonna make breakfast but I also wanted you to watch me make breakfast, so you can watch and learn.” Dream explains, and George very dramatically rolls his eyes. “Okay Dream. I’ll watch. But fix your posture, you giant.” George says, and Dream nods, straightening his posture, and grabbing all the items needed to make his breakfast. “What kind of eggs are you making? Like, an omelette or something?” George asks, and Dream looks over his shoulder, side-eyeing the phone. “I hadn’t thought about it, but an omelette does sound good, now that I think about it.” He says, and looks back at the flat-top stove. He places a small plastic tupperware bowl onto the counter and cracks the eggs, pouring the contents into it. “Can’t you like, listen to music?” George says, and Dream looks up at the phone, smiling smugly. “Oh no, what are you planning?” He asks, and Dream just keeps his smug smile on his face. 

“Hey Google, play Batman by LPB Poody.” He says, and he sees another eye-roll from George. “Really? That song? You listen to it?” George asks, and Dream tilts his head, raising his eyebrow. “Well yeah, it’s a good song, plus, the trend is funny.” Dream shrugs, smiling. “Oh please don’t tell me you’re gonna do that.” George pleads, and Dream just smiles at him. “I’m gonna do it.” 

“Don’t.”

“I’m going to.” 

“Don’t you dare, Dream.”

Dream snorts, and continues his cooking, knowing damn well he’s going to do it. “Fine, I won’t.” He lies, and hears George’s relieved sigh. He pours the mixed eggs into the hot pan, and quickly grabs a spatula as the edges turn white. He slides the spatula around the edges, to not make it stick. As soon as it’s done, he turns the stove off right on time. The part of the song that everybody knows is just a couple seconds away. He looks at George, and smiles. He leans back pretty far, throwing his head back, and hovers his hands right above his face, dragging his hands down, keeping his hands off of his body, and the entire time he’s mouthing the words. His shirt had come up from his stomach, showing a small part of his abdomen. As soon as he’s done, he looks at George, whose expression is one of anger, but not too bad. Through the entire thing, he heard George yelling at him. “DREAM, you’re a LIAR.” He yells, which prompts the blond to laugh, close to wheezing. He smacks his counter, hardly able to breath. “What? I like that trend.” Dream is barely able to say those words through his laughter. George looks pissed off. Dream pours himself some milk after his fit of laughter dies down. The song stopped, and all was quiet again. He smiles as he walks around to the opposite side of the island, setting his plate down, and once again propping his phone up against the bowl. 

“You know Dream, I screen-recorded that.” George says, an evil smile plastered on his face. Dream’s heart drops and he chokes on a bit of his omelette, he bumps his chest with his fist a couple times before taking a sip of milk to wash the eggs down. “You what?” He asks, surprise filling his tone. “I. Screen. Recorded. That.” George says, saying each individual word. “Yeah I get that, but what are you planning to do with it?” Dream asks, genuinely curious, because he knows that George wouldn’t dare post it. He wouldn’t betray him like that. “Dunno, gonna keep it for blackmail.” George says, shrugging. Dream sighs, chuckling. “For what? How are you gonna blackmail me with that?” Dream asks, taking another bite of his food. “I dunno.” George repeats, and smiles at Dream. There was comfortable silence for a couple minutes while Dream ate. He gets up to put his plate in the sink, and clean up his mess. He sits back down again, and thinks a little. 

“What’re you doing today?” Dream asks, and George displays a thinking look. “Might stream later, most likely. What about you?” He replies, and Dream actually has to think, I could join your stream, or do something else, I don’t really have much to do. Sapnap’s out of the house right now, he went somewhere this morning I think, I was asleep.” Dream says, running his fingers through his tousled hair. “Take a shower, stinky.” George says jokingly, and Dream lets out a loud ‘HAH’. “You can’t even smell me, shortie. We’re oceans apart.” Dream says, and George makes a mad face, which fails, because Dream can see the smile on the brit’s face. “Don’t call me shortie.” George says, and Dream chuckles. “Okay, shortie.” George mutters an expletive and rolls his eyes. “Ain’t it past lunchtime for you?” Dream asks, getting up to go to his bedroom. “Yeah, but I already ate. Why, you want to watch me cook?” George is quick with the joke. Dream smiles, he seems to do that a lot. “Sure. I don’t have anything better to do.” Dream replies, walking over to his setup, and propping his phone up against something. 

He grabs the led light remote from his desk, looks up at the ceiling, then back at George. “I’m not cooking for you after I just ate. Also, light light pink.” George replies, but Dream pauses a moment, and gives a confused look. “You can’t see pink though.” He says, and George just looks at something off-screen. “Yeah but, I have the glasses, and I don’t think I’ve seen you under a pink light, it’s always blue or yellow.” George replies, getting up as well to sit at his desk, propping his phone up against something as well. They’ve had this little thing that everytime they call, Dream would turn his leds on, and George got to pick the color. It’d been mostly yellow and blue due to George’s colorblindness. “Alright, if you insist.” He says as he presses the button on the small remote, while George grabs the glasses he mentioned. “Huh, that’s some nice lighting. When you do a face reveal, you should use that color. Although, the stereotypical gender strict people are going to give you hell for it.” George says, nodding with a light smile on his face at first, then slightly concerned. Dream sighs, “I don’t care if they don’t like it, I like it, just because they might not like it doesn’t mean I have to change it for them. They don’t have to watch, I’m not stopping them.” Dream explains, waving off imaginary haters. George was silent for a second, then chuckled. “Wow Dream, you really just said fuck gender roles, didn’t you?” He says, and Dream smiles, spinning slowly in his chair. “Yeah, I guess I did.” He spoke softly, but confidently. 

“Alrighty then, I’mma shower, I’ll call you later, Gogy.” Dream says, and George looked a tad dejected for a second, before smiling at him. “Alright, call you later.” George says, waving goodbye. Dream ends the call, and sighs happily, that really brightened the mood a whole lot more. He ends up sitting in his chair a bit longer, having completely forgotten about the whole dream situation he had. He’d forgotten to tell George. He’ll tell him later. He gets up out of his seat, and prepares his outfit, something that won’t make him sweat too much. He already knows that shorts are a must, but picking out a shirt? No clue. Just as he opens his shirt drawer, he hears the distinct sound of the front door. Ah, Sapnap’s back. He hears footsteps coming down the hall to his room. Sapnap knocks on the door before coming in. “Hey, you’re finally awake.” Dream snorts, and picks out a random shirt. “Yeah, where’d you go? You were gone when I woke up.” Dream says, looking over at him. “I had to go somewhere, had to grab sunscreen, since someone’s been using it all.” Sapnap looks at him accusingly. “Hey, it’s not my fault the weather is bad.” Dream defends himself, standing up, and setting his shirt on the dresser alongside his shorts. “Anyway, you’ve been holed up in the house a lot recently, so, we’re going somewhere today.” Sapnap says, a sly smile plastered on his face. “Where?” Is all Dream asks, to which Sapnap leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “The beach, or anywhere that’s not here.” He replies, and Dream gives him a questioning look. Dream actually likes the beach, he wasn’t going to deny that. He really does need the sun, he’s getting a little pale. He takes a look at the underside of his arms, oh yeah, definitely getting pale. “Alright, when though?” Dream asks, turning around to look at Sapnap. “How does half an hour sound?” He says, and Dream nods. “Sounds good to me.” He replies, and Sapnap laughs, a genuine happy smile on his face. “Alright, I’ll leave you to it then. After you’re done getting ready, help me pack stuff.” 

Dream was happy, and actually excited for the trip to the beach. He’d be getting out of the house at least. Only thing is that it’s an hour’s drive to get to the nearest beach. He doesn’t care though, he gets to spend the day with Sapnap and that’s all that matters. He doesn’t need to think about his dream, just ignore it and have fun. That’s exactly what he’s going to do. 


	3. The Drive

The drive to the beach was quite fun, Sapnap drove, might Dream add. He drove like a madman, it was as fun as it was terrifying. Dream got the aux cord, and he played a variety of songs and even explored some he’s never heard of before, and both were singing their hearts out. Dream sent George a couple snaps, one with Dream grinning, holding up a peace sign, his green eyes looking straight into the camera, one closed, and the other open. The sunshine made his face glow, and his eyes look like emeralds. It also made his freckles pop. His dirty blond hair shone, highlighting it. They’d opened the windows, so his hair was flowing. He liked that photo of him, so he’d saved it. He then took one of Sapnap, whose picture came out really good. His short coffee-colored hair was also flowing in the picture, glistening in the summer sun. His face was highlighted, almost glowing. His eyes really popped, the brown in his eyes looked golden-brown, almost like whiskey. He saved that photo too. When he’d shown it to Sapnap, he was amazed, but he already knows how good he looks. “That picture’s good, I want it, send it to me.” There were many moments where Dream would just take pictures at random times, of random things. 

They’d stopped at a gas station on the way, to get a snack. Sapnap made a quick joke that actually reminded Dream about a policy he would’ve forgotten. “Hey man, no shirt, no service.” Dream thanked him, then grabbed the green shirt he’d taken off in the car when it got hot. Dream went in while Sapnap stayed with the car, refueling it. Dream walks around the little aisles, eyeing the variety of snacks they have on the shelves. Peanuts, trail mix, protein bars, candy, he didn’t feel like eating peanuts, or nuts in general. He wanted something sweet, but wouldn’t cause his teeth to rot. There were the little pastries that gas stations like these always have. Powdered donuts, too messy. Chocolate covered donuts, the chocolate would get all over his fingers. Honeybuns, actually not bad. He grabs four honeybuns, and walks over to the drink section. There were  _ a lot _ of options. A Dr. Pepper for Sapnap, and a Coke for himself, plus two water bottles. He walks a little slower to the counter, taking a little time to scan the store, seeing all the unique little trinkets and souvenirs displayed in the middle for all to see. 

He walks past them and heads to the counter, where he’s greeted by a nice lady. “Will this be all?” She asks, her tone cheerful and happy. “Yes ma’am.” He responds, nodding. She rings the items up, tapping on the little screen. “Alright, your total is $6.87. Cash or card?” She asks, and he slips his wallet out of his front pocket, opening it and sliding his debit card out. She taps the screen again, and the little PIN card machine lights up with his total. He swipes his card, and the machine beeps. Dream’s done this so many times that it's just muscle memory for him. He stops at gas stations anytime he’s going somewhere. She happily places the items in a plastic bag, and places the receipt in it too. “Have a nice day sir.” She says, and smiles at him again. “You too.” He simply says, and opens the door, the bell jingling at his exit. As he steps out into the open again, he realizes the temperature difference between inside and outside. He looks to see if any cars are coming across, and he crosses. He arrives at the car, noticing that Sapnap is already inside. He opens the car door, and gets in with one fluid movement, then putting his seatbelt on. "What took you so long? Were you flirting or something?" Sapnap complains, and Dream looks at him, rolling his eyes before smiling. "No, I was picking something out for you, asshole." He responds, and that immediately made Sapnap look at the bag.

“So, what’d you get?” Sapnap asks, looking curiously at Dream, who chuckles and places the bag of items between his legs. He grabs the Dr. Pepper first, handing it to Sapnap, who mutters a little ‘hell yeah’, and Dream then hands him two honeybuns and a water bottle, which makes Sapnap say it louder. Dream keeps his stuff in the bag, except for his Coke, he sets that in the cupholder. “Alright, ready?” Sapnap asks, tapping the steering wheel. “Wait- gimme a second.” Dream replies, and goes to take off his shirt again. “Okay, now I’m ready.” Dream says, giving Sapnap a thumbs up. They were off again, Dream scrolling through his Spotify playlist to find songs to play. It reminds him of what he did this morning, and he snorts, thinking about George’s reaction to it. The more he thinks about it only makes him laugh harder. He looks at Sapnap, who is super confused, understandably so. “What the hell are you laughing at?” Dream tries to calm himself, sputtering the story out, but it's no use. He lets himself breathe, calming down. "Okay, now can you say something actually coherent?" Sapnap asks, keeping his eyes on the road, but his expression was clearly jokingly frustrated. "Okay so, you know that song from Tiktok? The one that people do thirst traps to? Well, I played it while making breakfast, I was on FaceTime with George, might I add. He was practically begging me not to do it. But I told him I wouldn't. I did it anyway though, and he yelled at me.  _ But _ he screen-recorded it." Dream finally says, and Sapnap starts dying. "What the hell Dream?" Sapnap says, lifting a hand and smacking the wheel a couple times. "You already know he's going to use that as blackmail, right?" Sapnap says, the grin never fading. "He told me he would. But he never said what for." Dream says, tilting his head over to Sapnap, who still has his eyes glued to the road. "Knowing him, he probably won't tell you what." He says, to which Dream responds with a simple nod. Dream goes back to scrolling through his playlist. He thinks about the mood that he's feeling. Happy, giddy, excited. He knows immediately, and scrolls, scanning the list closely until he sees the song  _ Hot Rod _ by Dayglow. Fits perfectly, plus, Sapnap has never heard it before. It's a win-win for the both of them. 

A couple songs later, he receives a notification from Snapchat. George had responded to him with a picture, but it's not like it matched up with the quality of Dream's. It was just a zoomed-in photo of George's face, with the caption saying 'you have a big forehead.' Dream scoffed and rolled his eyes. "What, did George say something?" Sapnap asks, giving Dream a quick glance, who's expression was a pouty face. He's only joking though, Sapnap knows. "He said I have a big forehead. Do you think I have a big forehead Sapnap?" Dream asks, his voice matching his expression. "Oh yeah, definitely, one of the biggest I've seen." He sarcastically jokes, and Dream holds his hands to his face, making fake crying noises. "Waa, waa, Dream's a baby. Waa waa." Sapnap laughs, mocking the taller man. Dream gets a belly laugh out of that one, and Sapnap waits for him to calm down once again, so he can say something. When he does calm down, Sapnap gives him a playful shove, and quickly gives Dream a sly smile before his eyes are back on the road ahead. "You should call him. Wait no,  _ FaceTime him _ ." He adds, and Dream nods, picking his phone up again, and pausing the music. Dream tapped on George's contact again, and after a couple rings, he picks up. "Hey shawty, how you doin'?" Dream greets him, and Sapnap started laughing, but George looked displeased. "I told you not to call me shortie, Dream." He says, and Dream gives him a confused look. "Shawty isn't the same thing." Dream half-lies to the brunette. Dream notices the headphones that rest on his head, one side off his ear, and the other one on. "Say hi to my stream Dream." George says, keeping the phone screen facing towards himself so as to not show Dream's face. Dream laughs, "Hey guys, you treating George well?" Dream asks, and George chuckles under his breath, Dream and Sapnap being the only ones who hear it. "They said yes, and they're asking when you're gonna stream again." George asks, reading over the chat. Dream thinks, "Next week maybe. Depends-" he starts, but Sapnap interrupts him. "Come watch me instead of this green blob. I'm much more interesting." He says, and Dream shoots him a look. A raised eyebrow, and a small annoyed look. Dream looks ahead, seeing the beach in the distance. "Alright George, we're almost there, I'll catch you later. Bye chat!" Dream says, and George gives him a little face scrunch in return, and with a quick goodbye from Sapnap and Dream, the call ends. 

Sapnap pulls into the beach parking lot. Both men hop out of the car, stretching their legs and back due to sitting in the same position for the past hour. It's such a nice day, but God was the sun hitting hard. It beat down on their skin relentlessly as they stand and stretch. Sapnap opens the drivers side back door, and hisses at the heat that radiates off the door handle. He successfully gets it open though, making quick moves and swinging the door open. He digs the spray-on sunscreen out of the beach bag, quickly spraying himself, then handing the can to Dream, "Spray my back." Sapnap orders, and Dream clicks his tongue. "What're the magic words?" He asks, and Sapnap narrows his eyes at the taller man. "Spray my back,  _ bitch _ ." He spits, and Dream shrugs, knowing he's joking. Dream holds his hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay." He says, and sprays Sapnap's back down in left and right motions. "You must return the favor now." Dream says after spraying himself down, and hands the can back to Sapnap, who half-smiles and does the same. "Pick the best spot, I'll grab the stuff." Dream tells Sapnap, who nods and walks off, heading towards a palm tree on a patch of grass, which is shaded plentifully. Dream grips the strap of the beach bag and heaves it over his shoulder, then grabs the two boogie boards by the straps, and kicks the car door shut. He sees Sapnap settle under the said tree, obviously waiting for Dream to walk over there, which Dream does.

Dream wants nothing more than to just dive into the cold water and float around. He'd longed for it without realizing it, until he'd seen the actual beach itself. He hadn't been here in  _ weeks _ , sadly. He steps foot onto the sand and immediately feels like a kid again, eager to play in the water. He tries very hard to suppress his giddy feelings, and mostly succeeds. He speedwalks to Sapnap, a dorky smile plastered on his freckled face. "What are you so hyped up about? It's just the beach." Sapnap says, an obvious confused look on his face. "Yeah I know but we haven't been here in so long. I'm quite eager." Dream responds, letting go of the boogie boards and setting down the bag, rolling his shoulder after setting it down. "That's true, put your phone and stuff in the bag, nobody's stopping you from going." Sapnap says, a smile forming on his face, genuinely happy that Dream is happy. He hadn't really been this eager in a long time, except for when he's streaming, or talking to George. 

Dream smiles from ear to ear and quickly sets his phone down, speed-walking to the water. He stands foot deep, and eventually walks further until he is waist deep. He turns to look at Sapnap, who was following behind him, and grins. He then puts two fingers on his forehead, waving off as he lets himself fall backwards into the cold water. He comes right back up, shaking his head and sighing shakily. "Fuck, I forgot just how cold it was." Dream says to himself, hearing Sapnap laughing at him. He dives back down, eyes closed, and swimming around. He blindly digs his fingers into the sand, scooping some up and resurfacing. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, and looks at the small sand and pebbles mixed together. He picks out a pretty rock that catches his eyes. It was sorta white, but had a blueish tint to it. Kinda reminded him of George. He pockets it, and sighs happily, getting into the position to float. A small splash of water ruins that though, and he turns to see the source. Sapnap, with an evil grin. Oh it's  _ on _ . 

After a couple hours of splashing and playing in the salty water, occasionally grabbing the boogie boards sometimes. They had been there for almost 4 hours. Drying off and heading to the showers, both men head back to the car, after drying themselves off once more. "That was fun, glad you got out of the house today?" Sapnap asks, giving Dream a raised eyebrow look and goes to sit in the driver's seat. Dream puts the stuff away, and hops into the car again. 

Then they were off. Dream ended up napping in the car all the way back. 


	4. Sweat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you want to, join my mcyt Discord server! https://discord.gg/bEtErNa4Cu

Even after a couple nights, he keeps returning to the same place he’d dreamt of. Too strange to be a coincidence. His eyes flutter open, the warmth and light wind caressing his face. He looks around some more, and sees some little differences since the last time he came. He could smell the sea. Clay was obviously very confused. “Where the  _ hell _ am I?”, he asks himself under his breath. He takes in a deep breath, the sea breeze mingling with the sweet scents of the flowers, along with the smell of the forests. It was quite a nice smell, actually. He looks over at the fountain, which is just as beautiful as it was last time. He walks over to the fountain on instinct, climbing onto the wide edge, and sits with his legs criss-crossed.  _ Is there some kind of significance that this place resembles? Everything is perfect here. _ Clay wonders, gazing deeply at the crystal-clear water. He feels that soft breeze again, pointing him towards the Spring forest once more. “What do you want me to do? I-” He starts, immediately looking back to the water.  _ It’s pointless to speak, nobody else is here.  _ Clay thinks, and he sighs, turning back around to stand up again, looking around once again to actually confirm nobody was there. He’s right. It felt… lonely. Clay feels lonely, as he does when he’s alone, when Sapnap’s not there, and especially when George is offline, or away from his phone. The wind points him towards the Spring forest again, and Clay just ignores it. Turning away to look at the endless fields of flowers surrounding the place for miles upon miles. 

_ Why do you resist, young one? Why do you resist our help? You are distraught, we will help you. _ We say, but it doesn’t reach his ears, instead becoming only a soft breeze in the sky.  _ He’s a stubborn one, but there may be a way we could help a lot more.  _ We discuss, and although we’ve done it once, we can do it again.

_ Until next time, Clay. _

  
  


Dream wakes up in a cold sweat, sitting up way too fast. His heartbeat was slightly risen, but not too much. He inhales slowly, trying to reduce the shaking that plagued his body. He calms himself, covering his face with his hands, then running a hand through his messy hair. The room is still pitch black, the only light being the moonlight seeping through the spaces in the blinds. God, that felt horrible, and to think that last time he was awoken was peacefully by Patches, but this was different. He reaches over and grabs his phone off the nightstand, flinching at the blinding light, before quickly fumbling and tapping to turn the brightness down. 3:13 am. He groans, muttering an expletive under his breath. He felt fully awake now, and knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. He rubs his eyes, and places his phone back down on the nightstand, accidentally bumping something off, but he knows damn well it wasn’t a liquid. He reluctantly pulls the warm covers off of himself before slowly getting up. He stretches before grabbing his phone once more, then setting it on the smooth marble counter when he goes into his personal bathroom. He really  _ really _ doesn’t feel like blinding himself with the bright bathroom light, so he grabs his led strip light remote, and turns it on blue. He still winces, but not too bad. Why in the  _ hell  _ did he wake up like that? He wonders while rapping the counter with his fingers. George should probably be awake by now, right? He thinks for a moment, counting the hours. Yeah, definitely should be awake. He easily picked up his phone, but hesitated on calling, his finger just hovering over his contact. He sighs, and taps it, no FaceTime this time. He really hopes he doesn’t wake Sapnap up. A few rings later, he hears George pick up. “Hello?” George says, his voice revealing that Dream may have just woken him up. The rasp, grain, and kind-of deep tone made Dream feel fuzzy, but he didn’t have a clue as to  _ why _ .

“Hey George, did I, did I wake you? I’m sorry, I can call later if yo-” Dream starts, but George interrupts him. “No, no, you’re fine, I needed to get up anyway,” there’s a pause, “Isn’t it like, 3am there? If anything, you should be the one asleep.” George says, and Dream’s heart feels just a tad better, but still feeling guilty for waking the brit. “Yeah, I just.. I woke up, now I can’t get back to sleep.” Dream says, he didn’t tell George about the dream, or just how he woke up, and felt that he shouldn’t. He doesn’t know why he feels like that. He tells George  _ everything _ , but this time, he feels a strong urge to keep this to himself. “You know, you’re terrible at lying, you’re not telling me everything, I can tell. Spill it, I won’t laugh.” George says with a soft tone, a genuine tone in his voice, it made Dream’s mouth curve up into a very light smile. Dream likes the fact that he could tell when Dream was lying, but right now, it wasn’t the best thing. That dream felt supernatural, and Dream realizes that a sliver of why he doesn’t want to tell George is because he’s afraid. Afraid of being called crazy. “Dream?” He hears George ask again, and Dream hesitates for a second. “Sorry, I uh.. I had a bad dream, I woke up as if I had a panic attack. But it wasn’t.” Dream says, still feeling reluctant to tell him. He hangs his head, and George is silent for a moment. 

“Are you okay? Was it  _ that  _ bad?” George asks, his voice still filled with that genuine care. It made Dream’s heart warm. “Yeah, I don’t know what came over me, nor do I remember the dream. All I know is that I woke up like I was scared.” Dream replies, he lied about the remembering part, but everything else was the absolute truth. “If I could give you a hug right now, I would.” George says, and Dream blinks, and looks dead at his phone, giving a soft chuckle. “You wouldn’t.” Dream says, and George is silent again. “You don’t know that, Dream.” George responds, sounding a bit more awake, and Dream can hear shuffling in the background. “Would you really? Be honest.” Dream asks, grabbing his phone and ambling towards his desk, placing the phone down gently. Then he sits comfortably in his chair. “If I ever come to visit you, I will.” George says, and he sounds serious, but lightly.  _ If _ ? They’ve lightly touched up on the subject, but always end up changing the subject or getting distracted. “Okay.” Dream says, but pauses for a moment. “George?” He asks, to which he receives an ‘mhm?’ in response. “I still feel bad for waking you up, ‘s there anything I can do?” He asks, and can audibly hear George thinking. “I would like to see Patches, but don’t wake her up just to send a picture to me. Also, don’t feel bad for calling me when you’re upset or nervous or something like that. I joke around a lot saying that I don’t care, but I really do care. You should know that already, since you know you’re one of the select few that can get past the ‘do not disturb’ setting, you big dummy.” George explains, his tone getting softer near the end, and laces in a joking tone with the last word. This elicits a soft chuckle from Dream, who now feels much better because of George’s words. 

Dream lets both men bask in the comfortable silence for a little while, before George brings up the fact that Dream should probably go back to sleep. The concern and care that George showed just a few minutes ago still linger deep inside Dream, and he feels a slight pang in his chest when he hears those words. “I’ll try.” He says, and before George could respond, he says “Just for you.” Dream said that as a half joke, but truly means it too. He hears a giggle from George, and a joking scoff. “Yeah, okay Dream. Goodnight, idiot.” George says jokingly, and Dream hangs up a couple seconds after. He plugs in his phone-- which he’d forgotten to do when he went to bed --and sets it on his nightstand, then climbs into his bed, which had gotten a little cold, and pulls the covers back over himself. He shuts his eyes, waiting for the sleepiness to take him. This time, he didn’t dream, he only slept.

_ Goodnight, George. _


	5. Visit Me

In the morning, he wakes up to the sound of muffled music and the smell of breakfast. It smelled delightful, which in turn made Dream’s stomach let out a loud growl. He felt better, well rested. Getting up, he heads straight to the bathroom, proceeding with his self-care routine. Brushing his teeth, making sure he smells good, all of the things he’s been unmotivated to do these past few days. Why? Why does he feel motivated? Is it because of what George said last night? It might be. He thinks to himself. As Dream examines his face, he notices the not-so-subtle eye-bags that he has. He sighs to himself, stepping out of the bathroom and heading straight to his door, but not before scooping his phone up and into his pocket. The mouth-watering aroma gets much more noticeable and overwhelming as he steps out of his room and makes a bee-line towards the kitchen. Sapnap is leaning against the countertop, scrolling on his phone and humming along to the loud music carrying throughout the house. Sapnap looks up from the screen and looks at Dream. “Hey sleepyhead, mornin. I made you breakfast, figured that’d get you up.” He says, and continues humming to the tune, which Dream recognized as one of Jack Harlow’s songs. “Good morning, Sapnap. Thank you, it did wake me up.” Dream replies, and looks at the plate of food that sits on the counter, the steam rising from the hot breakfast. He walks over, trying not to seem too eager. He takes another look at his food, and realizes that it consisted of some of his favorite breakfast items. Kinda suspicious. He sits on the stool, and looks straight at Sapnap. “What’s the occasion?” Dream asks, and Sapnap looks up at him with a warm smile on his face. 

“What? I can’t make breakfast for you?” He starts, but pauses. “I felt like you needed it, you’ve been kind of distant the past few days. I didn’t want you to feel like that.” He continues, with a concerned look on his face, the smile receding. Dream was taken aback by the caring gesture. Was he really being distant? He hadn’t noticed, honestly. He didn’t mean to make his friends feel like he didn’t care. “I.. I’m sorry Sapnap. I didn’t realize I was being like that.” Dream starts, grabbing the fork and gently poking the food. “It’s fine, but I need to know what’s going on, man. Is something bothering you?” Sapnap asks, and Dream pauses for a moment, his mouth slightly open. He hesitates, but he ignores the feeling of uncertainty. He needs to tell him. Sapnap’s his best friend, and he could tell him everything. “I’ve recently been having weird dreams, like, I’m basically in the same place in every dream I’ve had. I thought it’d be a one time thing, but it wasn’t. This morning, at a little after 3am, I woke up like I was panicking. I felt really bad. It wasn’t a bad dream, it really wasn’t. But the way I woke up was terrible. I called George because I didn’t want to wake you up. He helped me a lot. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I can’t tell George, I don’t know why, but I feel a very strong urge not to tell him.” Dream explains, his tone was sad and laced with the feeling of guilt. Sapnap is silent for a few seconds, “So that’s why. Did you think I would react weirdly? It seems like the dreams are supernatural. That’s cool. Also-” Sapnap breaks his silence, but as soon as he says also, Sapnap walks over to him and gives him a little punch in the arm, which caught Dream off guard. “Hey! What was that for?” He says, rubbing the aching spot. “That’s for not waking me up to help you when you were in need.” He says sternly, and returns to leaning against the counter. Dream is silent, with a blank expression. Then Dream smiles.

“Hey while we’re talking serious stuff, we really need to talk about traveling, well, not us in particular.” Sapnap starts saying after he stops the music. Dream, looks up at him, his mouth full of eggs. He’s caught off guard once again. He continues chewing, swallowing before speaking. “Oh, you mean George coming to visit?” Dream asks, and Sapnap nods. “Yeah, you should call him.” He says nonchalantly, like George visiting wasn’t a big topic. “Alright, but we end up straying off topic a little every time we talk about it.” Dream says, pulling his phone out and pressing George’s contact. Sapnap places his phone down and walks around, sitting on the stool next to Dream. Dream props his phone against the fruit bowl, making sure both of them could be seen. A few seconds pass, and George answers, Sapnap immediately greeting him, before Dream. “Hey shawty, we have something to talk about.” Dream says with a smile on his face, and George scoffs. “About what?” He asks, and Sapnap answers before Dream can. “About you visiting us soon.” Sapnap says so calmly, and George freezes. “How soon?” George asks, and Sapnap shrugs. It was time for Dream to answer, but he didn’t know how to. “Uh, a month or two? What do you think, George?” Dream asks, taking another bite out of his food. “That, sounds nice, actually.” George says, and Dream could hear his tone lighten, like he was happy. “Okay, yeah, but we need to buy tickets, and soon.” Sapnap says, and Dream realizes that he was getting really excited. He tried his absolute best to conceal it, only showing an acceptable amount of happiness without going overboard. He ate while they talked, dazing off for a minute.

“Dream.” He hears someone say, and that catches his attention. “Sorry, I was out for a minute. What’d you say?” Dream explains, and Sapnap rolls his eyes, smiling. “Are we buying his ticket?” Sapnap asks, and Dream nods. “Of course, we asked him to visit, so I feel it’s fair for us to buy his ticket.” He says, and George smiles. Sapnap thinks for a second. “How long will he stay?” Sapnap asks, and George makes a thinking face. “Until he wants to leave.” Dream blurts, and goes to take another bite. Why’d he say that? He thinks to himself, and he realizes that he said it because that’s what he wants. George snorts, and Sapnap looks at Dream. “Simp.” both say in unison, and Dream chokes, grabbing his drink to push it down. “How am I a simp for saying that?” Dream asks in a fake-offended tone. “Because it’s true, simp.” George says, emphasizing the ‘simp’. Dream rolls his eyes, and continues eating. “But seriously, is that what you want, Dream? Would you like that, George?” Sapnap makes eye contact with Dream, then George. Dream nods, and George thinks for a moment. “Sure, but if I stream, I want to use Dream’s setup.” George says with a sly smile, and Dream just shrugs. “Alright, it’s settled. That was.. quicker than I thought this talk would be.” Sapnap says, a relieved sigh coming from him. Dream swallows, then replies with a “Yeah.”

“Oh come on Gogy, you just completely missed that shot.” Dream says, laughing a little. George was streaming, with Dream just chilling in the voice chat, watching George play, and examining the facial expressions that the brit makes while he plays Minecraft, playing a minigame. He was having just a little bit of trouble, but Dream egged him on, encouraging him while also picking out his little mistakes. “Shut up Dream, mr. perfect.” George says in a mocking tone, looking just a little frustrated. Dream thought for a moment, analyzing the character’s movements. “While you’re moving, try and predict where he’s gonna go, and shoot just as he’s going there, it may not work 100% but it’s effective.” Dream gives George advice, and George smiles, but still looks really concentrated. He watches George’s character, his movements were fast, and he witnessed a good moment as George had followed his advice. He’d gotten the player, shooting him and knocking him off, before getting shot off himself. George groans, but also looks happy with himself. “Hey, you still made second place, that’s pretty cool, Gogy. You did great!” Dream says, a chuckle in his voice, mixed with excitement and pride. “Thanks, Dream.” George simply says, and Dream automatically feels the genuine thanks in his voice, even if he looks like he’s joking. Dream hears and sees a donation pop up on George’s screen. ‘George, since Dream’s here, I shall expose you. Dream, George blushed at his phone a couple days ago. Was it you?’ That caught Dream by surprise, was that true? “Is that so? Hmm, a couple days ago, huh? Oh, yeah I think I went to the beach that day, I sent him pictures during the car ride. George, did you actually blush?” Dream asks, and even though George can’t see him, Dream has a sly smile plastered on his face. George’s expression was unreadable, but he could see the almost unnoticeable little lip-bite that George was doing, you could only see it if you squint. 

“I did not, you’re all lying.” He says, trying to defend himself, but failing desperately. “But what’s funny about that, is the fact that you sent me a photo of you saying I have a big forehead.” Dream says, rerouting the subject just a little, as he could tell that George really didn’t want to continue further on that. George realizes what Dream is doing and Dream could see it click in his head, then laugh. “That’s because you do.” He replies, and Dream laughs really hard. “You’re a liar, Gogy.” He says, and George laughs alongside him. “Am not.” He says, and Dream just laughs even more. He loved moments like this, where both of them laughed at each other’s jokes. It made him feel good. Like he was making someone happy, and in this case, he is. It fills him with good feelings. He gets an idea, and picks his phone up, texting George.

Should we reveal the trip?

No, not yet, I think I should reveal it 

by streaming on your setup.

Yeah, that’s fine with me.

Dream smiles at his phone, glancing at George, who looks up from his phone and continues playing, a content smile shining on his face. Dream stayed all throughout the stream, even a little after the end, to talk about what things they might do. While George was playing, Dream kept on encouraging him, and giving him little tidbits of advice, and making the brit smile and laugh. He made a few jokes, which some made him laugh, while some made him chuckle and roll his eyes. Dream likes the way George is so expressive with his facial expressions. It was nice to know and see what he was feeling. He could read George so well. After Dream disconnected from the vc, he couldn’t help but think about the donation that popped up earlier. Did George actually blush, or was the viewer lying? Dream thinks, leaning his head back against the head-rest, then scooting towards his computer, and scrolling through George’s past streams, and finds the one the viewer was talking about. He skipped around, until he found the clip where George receives Dream’s snapchat, his phone looked as if it was propped up against a metal water bottle. Dream could see the exact moment that George opened it. George had spent a minute staring at it. Dream was confused, because George’s photo looked like he was annoyed. Was he mistaken? Surely not. He continues watching, and notices George’s cheeks displaying a dusty pink that was not too hard to see. Dream looks closely. Surely not. Surely he wasn’t blushing at Dream’s photo. He was, and he saw George doing something, looking as if he was changing apps. Then Dream recognizes the very obvious movement of a screenshot being taken. 

HUH? Dream thought to himself. There’s no way George could’ve secretly screenshotted it without him knowing. Unless there was a way. Dream sighs shakily, and holds his head in his hands. He isn’t mad, not mad at all. He’s just surprised. How long has George been taking screenshots like that? Dream found it quite amusing, but surprised. Now, Dream could take screenshots for blackmail too. He laughs softly to himself. How funny it is that George could accidentally reveal his secret. He clicks out of the stream, then gets up to stretch. He couldn’t wait for George to arrive here, he was way too excited. 


	6. Peaceful

Over the next few weeks, the dream would plague him every single time he fell asleep. He told Sapnap about it, about how it looked, about the forests, about the wind. He would sometimes wake up in a panic, and as Sapnap told him, and gave him permission to, he would wake Sapnap, who would comfort him, letting Dream know that he’s safe, and that it was a dream, and would stay up until Dream felt better. Sometimes, Dream would listen to music, go and get water, or take a shower in the ripe hours of the night. Dream treasures Sapnap with all his heart, after everything, after the recent situations, Sapnap still remained his best friend, and will stay his best friend. Everytime Dream woke Sapnap up, he felt like a toddler standing at its mother’s door waiting to tell her that they threw up. Dream thinks that Patches knows something’s wrong, because she snuggles up to him every night like she was trying to protect him. 

Dream woke up to Patches once again pawing his face. This filled the tall man with serotonin, massive amounts too. At this point, Dream has gotten used to the dreamscape. He sighs, rubbing his eyes, and heading into the kitchen. The house is quiet, so Dream assumes that Sapnap must still be sleeping. Dream takes a look at the calendar hanging on the wall, which he never really uses, until they planned George’s visit, which was in- Dream’s heart drops to his stomach, his visit is in 2 days. They’d already paid for, and done everything needed for George to come, and were just anticipating and awaiting his arrival. Dream and Sapnap are going to pick him up early in the morning, and they would need to clean the guest room and prepare for the brit to arrive. Dream inhales, then exhales slowly. He stims just a little, shaking his hands a bit less than vigorously as his excitement overwhelms him. His mind runs at a million words a second, and he can’t help the beaming smile on his freckled face. He feels anxious, but really really happy to see his best friend soon. Dream took good measures to calm himself of his overwhelming feelings or happiness. Dream thinks at a million words a second, and he tries to slow down. Then, he gets an idea that’ll distract him. He decided that he’d cook breakfast for Sapnap, as Sapnap had done for him. Yeah, yeah that’s what he’ll do. It’d be pretty nice of him. He’d also be working on his culinary skills, which in all honesty, Dream barely has. He opens the fridge, and he frowns, blankly staring into the almost empty fridge. They have to go grocery shopping today. He doesn’t like it much, but if he needs to, he’ll absolutely go. Especially since there’ll be an extra person in the house very soon. 

Dream looks in the pantry, it has more than the fridge at least. He scans the shelves, and finds the pancake mix. Yes, Sapnap will definitely like this. Dream thinks, smiling to himself. He wants to get them made before Sapnap wakes up, so Dream could surprise him with the meal he’s making. Then it hits him, he’s basically speedrunning making pancakes. He laughs to himself, covering his mouth as to try and muffle the sound. He peaks around and looks up the stairs to see if Sapnap was coming. Nope, he’s good. Now that he’s really cooking and making stuff, he thinks about how he’d been living off of frozen waffles and cereal for the past few weeks, and he sighs. That’s really gotta change. He knows it too. He has time to think, and be alone with his thoughts. What would George want to eat? Fast food and cereal, or actual home-cooked breakfast and dinners? He makes a bet with himself that George would choose home-cooked meals. He just knows it. Dream really needs to cook more often. He can make mac-n-cheese, eggs, pancakes, and anything basic. Plus, food that can be made with directions. When Sapnap wakes up and eats, he’ll ask him about going to the grocery store with Dream. 

After he makes pancakes, he prepares a spot for Sapnap at the bar, putting a fork and a butterknife on either side of the plate, putting a napkin under the fork. He also pours Sapnap a drink, and places it down, rummaging around in the pantry to find the syrup, spotting the powdered sugar too. Perfect! As he sets the stuff down, he waits at the other seat beside Sapnap’s. Pulling out his phone, he sees a text from George.

**All packed up and ready to go.**

_But you’re coming in 2 days??_

_Why are you packed already??_

**_It never hurts to be prepared._ **

_That’s fair lol_

_**Are we going to go swimming?** _

_Yes absolutely_

_**Okay then, I’ll pack a swimsuit.** _

_Yeah, do that_

_;)_

**_Ugh, you’re so inappropriate._ **

_:)**_

_**Good save Dream.** _

Dream smiles as they text, knowing he made the winky face on purpose, as a joke of course. He sets his phone down, watching George’s text bubble popping up, then disappearing, then popping up, then disappearing again, then not popping up again. He chuckles, and sets his phone down, and after a minute, he hears footsteps coming down the stairs, and sees Sapnap round the corner. Sapnap stops dead in his tracks as he stares at the food on the bar. Then he walks towards Dream, who has a smile on his face. Sapnap, obviously half-asleep, smiles back at the taller man. “Is’ for me?” He asks, his voice still sort of gravely from sleep. “Yeah, it is.” Dream replies, and without a word, Sapnap sits down. “Aw hell yeah, thanks man.” Sapnap says, picking up the syrup and drizzling it over the freshly made pancakes. Dream huffs happily, and looks at the bar, thinking. He wonders if George will be able to adjust quickly to the weather and temperature here. He would need to take a few days to adjust to the different time-zone that they’re in as well. He was worried about all the complications that could occur, but he tried to nudge it and bury it down. What if he wakes up all panicky again? What if it scares George? “We need to go to the grocery store today, preferably as soon as we can, I want to get it over with. Also, when we go pick George up, do you want to take the convertible, or the other car?” Dream blurts, and apparently he asked at the wrong time, because Sapnap had just put a bite into his mouth. “Oh, sorry.” Dream says, snorting as Sapnap narrows his eyes at him jokingly. He waits until Sapnap is done with his food before Sapnap needs to answer. 

Once Sapnap finishes his breakfast and cleans off his plate, is when he answers. “Okay, we need to go get ready then. Also, definitely the convertible, it’d be so much cooler.” Sapnap replies, walking past Dream and up the stairs to his room. Dream agrees in his mind, and heads off to get ready himself.

Grocery shopping is one of the most boring things ever, in Dream’s opinion. It’s cold, it’s boring, and just unappealing in general. They arrive at the store, people entering and exiting the store. They’d written down a list of what they needed, and put it into Dream’s hoodie pocket. Every time they came here, they would unintentionally buy more than they really needed. Dream grabs a cart before they enter the store, sighing. “Don’t be a pissbaby about it, Dream. We just need to get the essentials, and then we’re out of here.” Sapnap says, looking up at Dream with narrowed eyes. Dream nods, and they head to the first aisle, grabbing what they needed, but grabbing a little extra of each item. Throughout the first few aisles, there was comfortable silence between the two, the only sounds being the chatter of other people, and the music playing on the speakers. But, Sapnap breaks the silence. “So, you looked like you were deep in thought earlier, and I noticed that you looked worried. What’re you worried about?” Sapnap asks, trying to reach something, but couldn’t, which prompted Dream to get it down for him. “Just, how is George going to adjust? Plus, my reoccurring dreamscape problems, what if I scare George with the way I wake up sometimes?” Dream explains, his nervous thoughts coming out, and Sapnap listening to him. Sapnap slowly looks at Dream and pats him on the back, which made Dream a little confused, but it was a nice gesture. “Well, he’ll adjust at his own pace, and you literally told me that George comforted you when you woke up like that, so I think you should remember the fact that he’s there for you.” Sapnap says, and the words make Dream feel a little better. He smiles, and they continue. “Yeah, you’re right.” He says, and they return to grabbing items in comfortable silence. It didn’t take long for them to finish, especially since there’s two of them. Although the price wasn’t exactly too much, Sapnap still rolled his eyes.

With a trunk-load full of groceries and necessities, they’d head home. All throughout the day, they would find random things to clean up, avoiding the guest room until the next day. Procrastination at it’s finest. 

He’s returned. Clay was annoyed at how persistent this dream was, so persistent to get him to go into the forest. He didn’t want to, he avoided it. He always feels the wind, but what was weird is that the wind would get just a tad stronger every time. That feeling of calm slowly faded away as he had those terrible panicked feelings when he woke up. But it kept egging him on, trying so hard to lead him down the path leading to the forest. Now, he sits on the edge of the fountain, his feet just below the water’s surface. He blankly stares at the ripples of water as streams cascaded down each level. He very slowly swung his feet back and forth, his thoughts became something that would overwhelm him. The fear of being alone overcomes him a lot. He couldn’t handle this on his own, he just can’t. There’s only so much he could handle by himself. He sighs and rests his face in his hands, knowing that he may have to give up and go into the forest sometime, or this won’t end. He hates it, he hates feeling like this, it messes him, and his friends up. Clay feels like a burden to them. “I’m sorry Sapnap, I’m sorry George.” He says softly, running a hand through his hair. 

“Dream?” 

Clay’s head snaps up, his heart dropping to his stomach, turning cold. He frantically looks around, searching for the source of the voice. He recognizes it as being George’s voice. Then, he makes eye contact with him. George. He can’t be real, he’s just a figment of Clay’s imagination, right? He asks himself. “Where am I?” George asks, just as confused as Clay is. Clay slowly turns and stands up so he could be face-to-face with George. “Yeah, it’s me… what.. what are you doing here?" Clay asks, his mouth open in shock. George looks too confused, his expression looks too real to be fake. “I don’t know, I should be asking you.. the.. same thing..” George starts, but his eyes wander, looking around the environment, his expression slowly changing from confused to amazed. George’s mouth parts slightly, which Clay didn’t mean to stare at, but he did. George’s features are highlighted by the bright sun. It made his hair glow, and his usually dark brown eyes now look like dark pools of maple syrup, already adding to the fact that their eyes literally glow. Clay could gaze at them all day and never get tired. George’s slightly pale skin became lighter, and his face looked soft, oh so soft. Clay looked over every part of George, especially his best features. His hair was lighter, and it's lovely as George’s hair is fluffy, which accentuates his face shape. “Woah, what is this place?” George asks, looking up at Clay with wide eyes filled with wonder and amazement. Then, Clay realized something that he’d never been able to notice before on any of George’s streams. Freckles. Clay hates to admit it, but they are adorable. It’s okay because no homo, right? “I don’t know, nor do I know what to call it either.” Clay replies, eyes glued onto George’s. Clay doesn’t know what’s real or what’s fake. This George feels so real. He tried to shake it from his mind, but couldn’t. Then he felt the wind once again, breaking his focus. It once again pointed towards the forest. Clay’s head once again turns to look at the now way-too-familiar sight. He sighs, getting slightly annoyed. “Did you feel that?” George asks him, looking in that direction. “Yeah, it does it every time I come here.” Clay says with a low voice, and shrugs. “You don’t think that maybe you should follow it?” George asks him, looking back at Clay, head slightly crooked and with confused eyes. “I don’t know what’s in there, and I don’t want to walk into something that’s potentially dangerous.” Clay explains, glaring at the forest. George nudges him, and furrows his eyebrows, thinking. Clay looks at him, waiting for George to say something. 

“Why don’t we go in together?” George asks, his face lightening up, and eyes focused on the forest, this makes Clay look at him again, kind-of shocked, but he felt safer with George around, and it made him let down his guard. Which only a couple people in the real world could do. His family members, and close friends, mainly Sapnap and George. He loves them. He can honestly say that. Sapnap, his wingman, right hand man, best best friend, always there for Clay through anything and everything. Clay treasures the younger man. Then there’s George, his other best best friend, right hand man, and although he’s in a completely different place, he’s still always there for Clay. The three of them sometimes fall asleep on call together, mostly just Clay and George, but Sapnap’s there too sometimes. The two of them make Clay’s life way better. “I.. I guess so, if you’re up for it. I won’t make you.” Clay replies, looking down at the older man with a slowly forming smile. 

Then he woke up. Dream woke up, but peacefully. 


	7. Dandelions

He still feels that comfort lingering in his heart. The image of George is still in his mind, making Dream smile. He looks at the time, 9:36 am. He feels fully rested, something he rarely feels. As soon as he can coherently think, he rushes to get ready, excited for the day. Dream takes a morning shower, does his self-care routine, and he’s out of his bedroom. Sapnap is already awake, watching TV on the couch, looking like he’s about to fall asleep again. Dream chuckles. “Hey, mornin’ Sap.” Dream says, and Sapnap comes back to focus. “Oh hey, Dream. Looks like you’re eager,” Sapnap starts but adds an unamused tone to his voice. “We have to clean the guest room today, don’t we?” He groans, complaining. Dream chuckles and nods. “Yeah, where else would George sleep?” Dream asks jokingly, to which Sapnap replies with “In your bed.” Dream knows he’s joking, but Sapnap said that without skipping a beat. Dream starts laughing, and rolls his eyes. “Yeah okay Sapnap.” Dream says, lowering his voice on the ‘okay Sapnap’ to make it sound funny. Sapnap rolls his eyes and gives him a smile. “Yeah he’d never want to sleep with you, you stink.” Sapnap says, fanning his face and shaking his head like he was disgusted. What made it so much funnier is right after that, Sapnap added a “pee-yew”. That’s what pushed Dream over the edge, making his wheeze. “Just so you know, he’s not using my shower, he can use yours.” Sapnap says after Dream comes down from his laughing fit, Sapnap meant it. “Oh yeah, I completely forgot that the guest bathroom doesn’t have a shower.” Dream says, remembering that fact. 

“You’re vacuuming, Dream.” Sapnap says, and Dream wasn’t going to argue either. They’d brought the Google home into the room so they could listen to music while cleaning. When a song Dream and Sapnap both knew came on, Sapnap would use the handle of the duster as a fake microphone, while actually singing too. Dream would sing too, Sapnap sometimes pointing the duster at Dream, which Dream would lean over to sing into it. It pleased both of them greatly that they were actually having fun while doing the chore. It was easier than they both thought it would be. Well, when they checked the time, it’d been 4 hours since they started, which actually hadn’t crossed either men’s minds to check the time. The room is spotless now, all organized and ready for George. When they’d started, the room was so dusty that the vacuum had to be dumped twice. Now it’s squeaky clean. Neither of them could wait for their best friend to come visit. The day passed by way too fast for them, because they realized that not just the guest room had to be cleaned. The amount of fur that accumulated from all their pets over months had them shocked. They dumped the vacuum more than they’d like to admit. Both Dream and Sapnap agree that cleaning the house actually gave them exercise. At the end of the day, they were sore and really really tired. Which helped because it had made them fall asleep at an actually decent time, since both had to get up at like, 3 am the next morning. 

Clay opens his eyes to the all-too-familiar landscape before him. He remembers the interaction last time he was here, and it made him smile. He takes a look around, immediately notices a small change in the flowers. Some of them were replaced with dandelions and roses. Wait, what? Clay thinks, walking closer to the flowers, and kneeling to pick one. A rose, Clay’s favorite flower. Then dandelions, a flower that George adores. It had bloomed into the delicate seedling ball. He stands back up, holding one of each. “I’m back again?” Clay hears George’s voice again. Clay spins around, and sees George on the other side of the fountain, his body warped by the flowing water. Clay walks around, and stops right in front of George, who’s looking up at him in awe, like he couldn’t believe that Clay was standing in front of him again. “So are you.” Clay responds, a warm grin forming on his face. “You disappeared before we could go into the forest, you meanie.” George says, then notices the items Clay has in his hands. “Is that a dandelion?” He asks excitedly, and before Clay could open his mouth, George softly grabs the bloomed dandelion from Clay’s fingers, George’s hand brushing against Clay’s for a quick second. The first thing Clay thought about it was that George’s hand was soft, like, seriously soft. 

George steps back, and turns to the side, lifting the dandelion to his lips, almost making contact with them. George blows, and watches as the seedlings drift off, a bright toothy smile plastered on his face. His eyes followed the path of the seeds, his glowing eyes made it even better. It was.. a sight that would be burned into Clay’s mind. He doesn’t know why a fluttery feeling formed in his chest, but it wasn’t bad. It felt.. good. He liked that feeling, but can’t register where the source came from. He drops the stem into the flower bed, and his face immediately becomes one of the happiest he’s seen. “There’s so many!” George yells eagerly, which made Dream giggle, that fluttery feeling increasing gradually. “Yeah, it’s a good change of scenery.” Clay responds, his voice soft and content. George looks at him, and then looks at the forest. “We need to go in before you wake up again.” He says, and reaches forward to grab at Clay’s wrist, basically dragging him the first few steps, then voluntarily going with him. The whole hand-wrist thing distracts Clay slightly, because of the sheer softness of the shorter man’s hand. It feels so real. He fully trusts George, which makes him almost completely comfortable with running towards the forest. After a minute of running, they stop when they reach the entrance, an arch wrapped with vines and decorated with a variety of different plants and flowers, it was quite beautiful. Though, George still had a grip on Clay’s wrist, but he didn’t want to tell him to let go. He didn’t want George to let go. 

The oak trees towered over them, and the branches and leaves covered them like a canopy, little rays of sunshine peeking through the small cracks where the leaves didn’t cover. Clay looks over at George, who is currently entranced by the sight. George keeps a hold on Clay’s wrist, and starts walking, and Clay follows. George, who is in front of Clay, gives the taller man a chance to look at the smaller. As they walked, Clay would watch as the little sunspots would make him shine, the small specks gliding over his face and hair gracefully. The little specks paired with his glowing honey-colored eyes make George seem like a celestial being. He could admit that George is beautiful. He could say that in a platonic way too, because that’s how he means it, but now he’s unsure of that. No no, it’s platonic. But is it really only platonic? Anyways, he breaks his trance to look around. “It’s.. not bad at all, it’s actually really pretty, what were you scared about?” George asks, turning his head to look at Clay, smiling while giving him the ‘I told you so’ look, raised eyebrows and everything. Turns out, he really didn’t know why he felt nervous about it. He made it out to be dangerous, overthinking it once again. As they walk, they gaze around at the scenery, noticing everything. George points out some things, like little streams and surprisingly, some animals. George freezes, which freaks Clay out, George looked like he just saw something. “I’m.. I’m not colorblind here.. I’m not colorblind, I can see green, I can see color. How in the world did I not notice this until now?” George says, turning around to face Clay, his eyes almost look like they are about to spill. But George has a smile on his face, not sad, not in the slightest. George’s mouth opened wide, and he got a little too close to Clay, just a couple inches away. “Your eyes! They’re green! Wait, there’s brown in the middle too. Wait why are they glowing? Are mine glowing too? That’s so cool.” George says excitedly, basically spouting words out as Clay loses a little bit of breath. Then he smiles as George steps back. “Yeah.. it is.” Clay replies, and he can’t help but stare again. 

They continue walking, until they eventually reach a small stone circle with a little marble pillar, and the sunlight shines fully on it. The pillar had vines climbing up and around, flowers decorating it just as it did with the entrance. On the pillar sits a single piece of paper. Clay and George both go over to read the single letter that is written on the page.

_‘I’_


End file.
